This invention generally relates to the field of unitary modular cell units which are useful in organizing and storing smaller items. The modular cell units serve in the same capacity as a storage cabinet. More specifically, the modular cell can be employed in a hospital setting for the storage of a patient's personal belongings, clothing or medicines.
The modern hospital faces unique and frustrating problems. Hospitals provide a multitude of services, each demanding improvement and each threatened by rising costs and obsolescence. Many independent products and subsystems are frequently in wasteful conflict with each other. In order to provide good service, the hospital must have coherent performance. Although hospital sanitary procedures and controls have improved, they are finally reduced to a practice of overcompensation to balance the unsanitizable character of many hospital equipment structures. This group of "unsanitizable" structures would include most furniture, professional equipment, transporting devices, containers and storage units of a size larger than a bread box. All surfaces, without exception, should and need to be clearly accessible for removal of contaminated material and for sterilization. THere should be no seams, no cracks, no interior grooves, no hinges and no unsealed shell interiors penetrable by air or liquid flow in order to preserve a sanitary atmosphere. With rare exception, present structures do not lend themselves to disassembly for proper cleaning.
In operating a hospital, it has increasingly become apparent that the visible physical characteristics of the patient's room or surroundings can indeed have a profound impact on the psychological outlook of the patient. It is also well established that a happy patient generally feels physically better than an unhappy one. These rather obvious conclusions dictate a style for a designer of hospital equipment and furniture. In order to be aesthetically pleasing to the patient and yet maintain extreme functionality, a system of unitary modular cell units is constructed. Each individual cell unit is capable of storing a plurality of items of various shapes and sizes in an extremely aesthetically pleasing manner. Each cell unit is constructed of a hard, resilient and durable plastic which allows the units to be molded as one solid piece thereby eliminating any unsightly seams. The elimination of seams tends to substantially decrease the degree of impurities maintained in a structure after sterilization. The elimination of seams also tends to increae the cell unit's structural rigidity.
A plurality of cell units can be used in a patient's room. The units are secured to the walls of the room by being attached to a wall rail which rail is fastened to the room wall at an appropriate height. The modular cell unit is secured to the wall by means of a mounting key which fits and is held by both the unit's rear surface and the wall rail. As the units are readily detachable from the walls they can be sterilized each and every time a new patient occupies a particular room. This obviously leads to a more sanitary hospital environment in addition to preventing the transfer of disease or germs from patient to room articles to new patient.
Additionally, the modular cell units are provided with drawers, pull trays or shelves which slide in and out of the front of the cell unit. The storage drawers, shelves or pull trays can be "mixed & matched" to provide a variety of cell unit configurations. Quite obviously the flexibility of the unit to take on a plethora of functional embodiments is a tremendous advantage to the hospital. The cell drawers, shelves or pull trays are also constructed of heavy duty plastic and therefore can be sterilized after removal.
A variety of front doors can be selectively secured to the modular cell unit. Specifically, the cell can be provided with a side-hinged front door, a drop-front door, or a roll-top front door. The modular cell unit is also provided with a vertical and horizontal trackway which guides the drop-front door and the roll-top door. Both of these doors are stored in the modular cell when placed in their inoperative position.
The present system of containers, frames, trays, drawers, carts and wall rails coordinate the architectural and service functions of the hospital. The following individual features of the present system contribute to the systems validity.
Improved sanitary procedures require a system to be dishwashable. As mentioned, the present system is made of tough resilient plastic and therefore able to withstand vigorous industrial dishwashing. The present modular cell unit is without seams, nor sharp corners and also is provided with drainage holes to allow for water to easily drain. Additionally, the surfaces of the unit are readily assessible to dishwashing jets. As all parts readily disassemble, they may be sanitized by use of a conventional industrial dishwasher.
The use of the cell system in modular form allows the hospital to selectively replace those items whose function and/or appearance have failed. In this manner, the hospital can eliminate the "gray life" failure in structures.